Cultural Appropriation: What Is The Truth Behind Cultural Appropriation?

Cultural appropriation is a disrespectful act because it's a result of white privilege and oppression. White people rejected people of color when they came to America, for showing off their culture, while they were able to show off their culture freely. They compel people of color to buy into their culture so they can accept them into society. So when minority groups adopt elements into their life from western culture, it doesn’t hurt white people in any way because ‘white culture’ means everyone else’s reality. For example, white people obligated black people to tame their natural hair in which it carried an important message during the civil rights movement but many of them had to get relaxers so they could get hired for an important

This is because of the power imbalance that exists in America due to a system, where white people aren’t denied any rights or privileges and gets to benefit of the oppression of others whether they want to or not. For instance, Abdul Jabbar a 70-year-old man, an NBA champion who wrote an article for the TIMES on August 25, 2015, about cultural appropriation. He wanted to expose the truth behind cultural appropriation and how serious it was and what it felt like. So he mentions, “It feels an awful lot like slavery to have others profit from your efforts.” The United States stems from heavy roots of racism and imperialism when it comes to utilizing other cultures and pressuring themselves onto other groups. Especially, when white people arrived in America they participated in the inhuman treatment of Africans and other minority groups. Culture appropriation is a product of and reinforces systemic racism, white privilege, and internalized racism and this is because colonization established European dominance, which is why we live in a society where we continue to live in the success of colonization that gave white people too much power over people of